Good Will Hunting

by Kyen

~ Moon Phase 4 ~  Unsteady Alliance

            Rin screamed as the three demons neared, mouths dripping saliva as they reached for the girl.

            “Hands off,” a male voice said darkly and one deep was ripped to shreds by a stream of light that spun around the body of a silver haired demon with a crescent moon on his forehead.

            “Are you Sesshomaru?” growled one demon in its guttural language.

            “Yes, and what of it?” Sesshomaru returned in the same language.

            The two remaining demons smiled widely, “Lord Naraku would offer you this chance to join him, help him rebuild and then destroy Inuyasha and rule the world.”

            Sesshomaru smirked, “Tell him I refuse.”

            “No one refuses Lord Naraku,” one of the demons pointed out.

            “I do,” Sesshomaru said and annihilated him with a single swipe of his whip. “Now, go and tell your master I refuse.” The demon growled and ran.

            “Thanks Sesshomaru!” Rin cried and ran to him. “Where’s Xiang Yao? Isn’t she my protector?” Inside, Rin wasn’t worried. This was the perfect chance to get rid of the girl!

            “What was with the screaming?” Xiang Yao demanded, appearing suddenly. She looked at the slaughtered demon’s bodies. “Oh, never mind then.”

            “Where were you?” Jakken demanded, and Rin glared, emphasizing she’d like to know as well.

            “Taking care of some intruders,” she answered and brandished her chain blade, fresh blood painted on the edge. “I think they got the message.”

            “Sesshomaru?!” a voice called and they all whirled to see the half hanou Inuyasha appear through the bushes. “So what Ieo said was true! The Huntress is working with you!”

            Xiang Yao, the Huntress’s, eyes narrowed and she ripped her whip free of its hold on her belt, “Do you not know when to give up you annoying half breed? Was taking care of your friends not enough to convince you?” She swung the whip out, even though she was good ten yards from the half hanou.

            “That won’t reach him,” Rin pointed out.

            “Salechk Kaestro!” she called aloud in the language of a remote demon that live in the mountains with high magical qualities. Instantly, the whip took on a white glowing hue and lengthened, aiming straight for Inuyasha. With another word the whip spun around him and then snapped tightly, making the boy gasp and then it began to reel him in, barely a foot from the group, and it was enough room for Xiang Yao to put her blade against his throat. “And we meet again, little half breed, but this time you don’t have a prayer.”

            “Xiang Yao, put him down,” Sesshomaru said quietly. The Huntress looked to Sesshomaru and her eyes went back to a normal state and she released Inuyasha, the half hanou gasping for the life giving breathe now available to him.

            “Xiang Yao?” Inuyasha choked. “That’s your name? Xiang Yao?”

            “Human born and demon breed,” she said with a smile. Inuyasha just looked at her with a confused expression. She ignored it and turned to Sesshomaru, “Want me to go and fetch his friends? They’re all unconscious, save the small kitsune, a child really.”

            “Yes, please do so,” Sesshomaru said and Xiang Yao bowed curtly then vanished into the brush. Sesshomaru turned his gaze to Inuyasha, “What is it you seek, little brother?”

            Inuyasha sat cross-legged on the ground, frowning, “The girl.” Rin gulped and back behind Sesshomaru. Inuyasha took note and shook his head, “Not you, the Huntress.”

            “Xiang Yao?” Jakken asked in clear surprise. “Why do you seek that wretch?” This was received with a swift punch from Sesshomaru, and the little demon shut up on the spot, rubbing his head.

            “Why do you call her Xiang Yao?” Inuyasha persisted. “Even her mother, Ieo, wouldn’t tell us her name.”

            “She conceded defeat to me,” Sesshomaru explained. “Obviously, where she comes from, defeat means you do as the victor tells you. I told her to travel with us and protect Rin, and that she has done.”

            “You beat her?” Inuyasha asked, mouth agape. “But she’s so good! Even I have trouble with her and her shadows!”

            “Shadows?” Sesshomaru repeated, raising an eyebrow.

            “Like when she had me hanging from the tree,” Rin said. “That was a shadow. Did you not pay attention when she explained it?”

            “I didn’t think you did, or that you even cared,” Sesshomaru returned in his regular calm fashion. “You seem to hate her, yet you have listened to her teachings.” Rin just blushed and looked away.

            “Oh, here she comes, with your friends,” Rin pointed and indeed, there was the Huntress, Shippou on her shoulder and Miroku on the other with Kirara carrying Sango over her back.

            She unceremoniously dumped them by the fire and strode over, shooting Inuyasha a dirty look as he licked his wounds. “What do you want to do with them?”

            “Wake them, first,” Sesshomaru said. The Huntress bristled, but nodded and disappeared once more. Sesshomaru turned to Inuyasha, “Come, we shall tend to those wounds, little brother.” Without waiting for a reply, he grabbed Inuyasha’s collar and dragged him to the fire, Inuyasha all the while kicking and screaming at how disgraceful the whole scene was.

            Kagome rested by the fire, letting the Huntress dress her wounded arm. The Huntress had said nothing as Sesshomaru explained how he came by her and her life story. They already knew why she bore a demon name, but the rest was news to them. Kagome was at first skittish when the Huntress appeared, trying to apply ointment and bandages, but a heavy threat and a calm touch that belayed her outward appearance had made Kagome trust her fully by now. Sesshomaru had healed all the major wounds, but left the smaller ones to the Huntress.

            “Xiang Yao,” Sango spoke up, “why did you attack us?”

            “I knew your purpose for seeking me,” Xiang Yao replied with hesitation.

            “You don’t want to go back?” Miroku pressed.

            She looked up and stared at him, her fire eye burning and her ice eye calm and cool, “Why? It is not to them I owe my life, but rather the demons they kept prisoner. I owe them nothing.”

            “Still, weren’t they your family?” Shippou asked her from Kagome’s left.

            She turned her gaze to him and both eyes hardened, “No, they killed my family seven winters ago.” Shippou shivered and retreated behind Kagome.

            “But, anyway, who were those demons?” Inuyasha asked, nodding his head to the decaying bodies.

            “Emissaries of Naraku,” Sesshomaru said.

            “Naraku’s alive?” Inuyasha blurted.

            “Yes, by what those demons said and I don’t doubt it,” Sesshomaru continued, ignoring the outburst. “If Naraku is alive, you and I both know that we alone cannot beat him.”

            “I know, we’ve both tried that already,” Inuyasha spat.

            Sesshomaru turned his gaze to Xiang Yao, but she I did nothing. Sesshomaru sighed inwardly, knowing she was no help in this decision, for she was loyal in defeat. She did not feel it her place to deal with matters such as this. “What do you think, Xiang Yao? You are the Huntress.”

            Xiang Yao looked them all over and then to the sky, “As the moon can shine without her stars flanking her, and the stars can shine without the moon to head them, so can you all go your different ways. But, the sun can shine without aid of the moon or other stars, but the moon would not produce its silver light without the sun’s help.”

            “What does that mean?” Kagome and Shippou asked together. Rin, too, was confused and was mimicked by Jakken.

            Miroku thought for a moment, “An alliance. You’re saying one of us in the sun and the other the moon, and though one can maybe win without the other, the other cannot win without the sun. If the two ally, then both shall shine, and both have a chance to win.”

            “You want me to work with you and him?” Inuyasha demanded.

            “You are the moon, Inuyasha,” Xiang Yao said, turning her gaze to him. “What hope do you have against Naraku?”

            “We have jewel shards!” Kagome said, showing her the jewel.

            “And what good does it do you? He has some as well, and even without them he has immense power nonetheless,” Xiang Yao reminded them. “Sesshomaru is nearly equal, and can maybe win, making him the sun. But, as I said, the moon cannot shine without the sun. What shall you do? Shine, or be nothing more then a black darkness against the sky?”

            Inuyasha had no retort ready for her logic reasoning. The truth of the matter was, he didn’t want to face Sesshomaru. He was everything Inuyasha wanted to become, and Sesshomaru had beaten him down so many times it wasn’t funny. Inuyasha didn’t want to ally, merely because he could not face his brother’s scrutiny.

            “I vote we take the offer,” Miroku said. “I do not relish working with you, but if it beats Naraku I shall take it.”

            Sango nodded, “Plus, I want to learn from you, Xiang Yao.”

            Kagome agreed as well, “Sesshomaru is no friend of mine, but Xiang Yao has a point when she says we should start an alliance. We will have better chance of winning.”

            “What do you say, brother?” Sesshomaru asked, looking at Inuyasha, whose eyes were glazed, like he was far away. “Inuyasha?”

            Inuyasha looked up and his eyes were hard, his mouth set in a line, “I agree, but when this is over, so is the alliance.”

            “Agreed,” Sesshomaru said and they shook, though no shine of friendship shone in their eyes.

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